Pigskin lore brings Cheesehead to the Permian Basin

I have always heard that Texans take their high school football seriously.

Not that somebody had to tell me.

Maybe it was the fact that people were writing books about Texas high school football.

Maybe it was watching Texas high school football on TV, even though I lived in Missouri.

Or maybe it was the way every college football roster in the nation seemed to sport at least a dozen Texans, even though the school was located in a parts of the country that knew nothing about Tex-Mex, sweet tea or what it's like to see the Texas flag on every third billboard.

But I knew that nobody in the rest of the country follows football like Texans do.

Made me want to see the phenomenon for myself.

I grew up in Wisconsin, where high school football is important but the Packers are an institution.

My dad played football. My uncle played football. So did both of my cousins and just about every red-blooded, cheese-loving Wisconsinite I knew.

I learned to love the game. Played outside linebacker on my high school football team. Spent Saturday mornings watching Ron Dayne and Sunday afternoons watching Brett Favre.

For that last part, forgive me, Cowboys fans.

And when I got my high school diploma, I knew I wasn't going to be able to play any more. Not many colleges have use for a 5-foot-10, 170-pound outside linebacker, especially if you don't count 7-on-7 intramural flag football.

None of that kept me from finding a way to stay around sports.

Accounting might have better hours, and engineers make better money, but I spent four years at Missouri learning to be a sportswriter.

Job description sounded good to me.

Watch games. Talk to the athletes and write about the games. And get paid for all of that.

I know. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Most kids have to wait tables to earn a living in college. Not me. I spent my time at the local newspaper covering the Missouri Tigers, high school sports and anything else that came up.

The Tigers helped me out a bit. When Missouri made the Big 12 championship game in San Antonio last year, I had a seat in the press box.

Didn't even really care that the Tigers lost. Oklahoma's pass rush was pretty impressive.

I know. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
Graduation hit. Time to find a job. I knew I'd be covering high schools.

Might as well do it in Texas.

And I have to say, so far the state's reputation - and Odessa's - has lived up to the billing. I've lived in four other states, and I've never seen so much time, ink and message boards devoted to one high school sport.

But something's still missing.

People keep telling me the crowds will be huge on Friday nights. So big the stadiums have to be bigger than those of most NCAA Division II colleges. So big that when Permian plays Odessa High, the stands will be so full I'll be able to hear the concrete creak under the pressure.

I haven't had the chance yet.

Tonight Permian opens its season against Duncanville, a game that Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine chose as its game of the week for Week Zero.

Gas prices are high. The drive to Abilene is long. But if the fans in Texas are as excited about the start of a new football season as they're supposed to be, people should show up in droves.

So when I step into the press box at Shotwell Stadium tonight, I fully expect to see the biggest crowd I've ever seen at a high school football game.

Don't disappoint me.